‘Experience van life’: VanFest in Hurricane spotlights nomadic lifestyle, freedom of the open road

Written by E. George Goold
October 29, 2023

HURRICANE — VanFest returned to Legacy Park in Hurricane on Saturday and Sunday, introducing Washington County residents to the nomadic lifestyle.

Chad Quinn calls the road his home and was at VanFest at Legacy Park, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 28, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

St. George News reported on the first VanFest two years ago and this weekend’s return engagement featured perfect weather, music, food, quite a few dogs and a chance for those with wanderlust to dream big.

The custom nomadic vehicle festival is dedicated to introducing the adventurous at heart to the van life experience. Think of it as a Parade of Homes except with vans and buses that are tiny homes.

Over 120 vehicles were on display at the event, opened for tours and workshops. So-called nomads, those who live and work in vans and live on the road as a lifestyle, talked with visitors about the appeal of van life.

“It’s the freedom to live and travel where you want,” Chad Quinn, who calls the road his home, told St. George News. He said he has a YouTube show about day-to-day van life and he frequently gets asked, what does it mean to live the nomad lifestyle?

“The most commonly given answer to that is, freedom,” Quinn said. “It’s very personal to the individual, but it’s the option to really go and do anything you want to do at the end of the day.”

Quinn said van life really burst in popularity during the pandemic, when employers started allowing workers to work at home. Van life continues to gain momentum as more and more of the workforce is choosing to be mobile.

“And Starlink really was a gamechanger,” Quinn said, referring to satellite provided internet service available basically anywhere on the globe. “Van life would not be possible without the internet.”

VanFest featured vans with solar panels, vans with add-ons like porches and roofs and old school buses rebuilt into tiny homes complete with kitchens and bedrooms.

Amelia Doll shows off some of her art work at VanFest at Legacy Park, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 28, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Musician and artist Amelia Doll said that living the van life is a manifestation of her best self.

“Something that I’ve noticed living in cities for long periods of time is that I’m not reaching a wide enough audience,” Doll said. “I have a lot of ambition in me and I want to meet as many people as I can and expose them to as much of my music and my art as I can.”

Living on a bus allows her to tour and not have to worry about “going home,” she added.

“When you’re on the road like this, it’s full community all the time,” Doll said. “Every single other nomad is just going to love you based on the fact that you live on the road. I feel like I have a bigger family now.”

Doll will perform her self-produced music album, Revolution, at VanFest on Sunday. She said it is available on Spotify.

“I always felt a little bit stuffy in a house. Four walls around me always seemed a little limiting to me,” Doll said. “And here, I just feel like nature is my house. And it’s expansive.”

Several nomad families and couples were at VanFest–the lifestyle is not just for single people.

Andy and Ayana Forget and their best friend show off their home VanFest at Legacy Park, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 28, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Andy and Ayana Forget wrote a cookbook for van lifers and had samples of their culinary creations at VanFest. They said they’ve been living on the road for three years now.

“For us it’s been a lot about the freedom to do what we want and live in all these cool places, while also taking our work with us,” Andy said. “A lot about what’s been so special about the lifestyle for us is that it created space for us to do those things we are really passionate about.”

Living in such a small space has its ups and downs, Ayana said, but the upside is that the outdoors become their living space too.

“At least for me, it’s a lot about taking your life off of autopilot,” Ayana said. “There’s a certain amount of intentionality that’s just always right at the forefront of your mind. It makes life feel a little longer and sweeter.”

VanFest continues all day Sunday at Legacy Park. Admission is $20 and children under 12 are admitted free.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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